Jacqui Celebrates 10 Years in Wigtown
Feminist books, fabulous cakes and finding a recipe for success in Scotland’s National Book Town.
Just ahead of her 10th anniversary as owner of feminist bookshop ReadingLasses, Dr Jacqui Robertson, has achieved her ambition of ensuring that every one of the 10,000 books on her shelves is written by a woman.
The shop, which she has run since 25 July 2015, is among 15 book-based businesses in Wigtown, Scotland’s National Book Town – a rural seaside community of under 1,000 residents in Galloway.
Like many others in Wigtown, Jacqui has close links to the annual 10-day book festival, which brings in up to 8,000 visitors, as well as a host of famous-name speakers from the worlds of literature, politics, journalism and science.
And during festival time it’s not uncommon to see queues developing outside ReadingLasses – with customers having more on their minds than just the books.
Home-made cakes and secret recipes
Jacqui, a former scientist, lecturer and schoolteacher, has added a special ingredient to her business – amazing home-made cakes from her own secret recipes. These are the hugely popular centrepiece of the bookshop’s cafe.
At the busiest times of year she starts baking at 5.30am, after which she and a small team run the shop and café during opening hours, before returning to yet more baking.
For this year’s festival (26 September to 5 October) the big attractions will include 120 eight-inch sponges. There will be coffee cakes, rose and pistachio, raspberry and white chocolate and the more adventurous can opt for sponges with tahini and lime or even “ras el hanout”.
In 2015 the moment had come
Jacqui said: “I used to visit Galloway a lot and loved to visit Wigtown – I’m an avid reader so I loved the place. ReadingLasses came up for sale in 2010 and I considered it, but the time wasn’t right. It came up again in 2015 and I decided the moment had come for my next adventure in life.
“I took over in late July and had an absolute baptism of fire when the festival took place – everything was so incredibly busy.
“I realised from the start that I would need the café to support the bookshop, but I had no experience in baking or catering. I decided I would approach it like a science project and keep experimenting until I got it right.
“To my surprise it revealed a creative side to me that I hadn’t known was there. And while I very much think I have a bookshop with café, I know some people think of it as a café with books.”
A colourful array of delicious ReadingLasses cakes
Bookshop dogs Murray Alexander and Ellie
Jacqui with waitress Lauren Smith, who has worked at ReadingLasses for 10 years
Showcasing female creativity
ReadingLasses was the first new bookshop to open in Wigtown when it was designated Scotland’s National Book Town in 1998.
Its original owner ran it as a feminist bookshop and cafe specialising in women’s studies, gender studies and social sciences.
This appealed to Jacqui as someone who wanted to showcase female creativity and provide a counterbalance to the historic and continuing underrepresentation of women in literature.
In addition to having sections which have top prizewinning books by women authors she has created sections on art, travel, nature, science and for 18th and 19th-century women authors.
Literary diversity - rebalancing
She said: “I have a stock of about 10,000 books and for the past 10 years my aim has been for every title to be by a woman author. I’ve finally had time to achieve that.
“I’m proud to have a section where people can discover writers like Fanny Burney, Maria Edgeworth and Charlotte Lennox. They are the sort of authors who would have inspired Jane Austen, as good if not better than many male authors of their time, yet who were often dismissed as scribblers.
“A female author-only bookshop celebrates a specific aspect of literary diversity, it’s something that rebalances rather than divides. That’s what I hope ReadingLasses exemplifies. It has been my passion and a project of love over the last decade.”
Customers coming in on Jacqui’s 10th anniversary will be offered a glass of fizz to celebrate.
Anne Barclay, Wigtown Festival Company Operations Director, said:
“Over the past decade, ReadingLasses has been far more than a bookshop and café - it’s a space for readers, a welcoming haven for locals and visitors alike, and a shining example of Wigtown’s literary spirit.
“Jacqui’s passion for books and inclusivity has deepened the town’s cultural richness, while ‘The Cake Fairy’s’ legendary creations have sweetened its reputation with visitors from around the world. Here’s to many more years of stories, connection, and coffee-fuelled conversation.”
Scientist and lecturer
Jacqui has always welcomed a challenge. After a degree in biochemistry, she entered education and spent a decade teaching in the Falkland Islands shortly after the war of the 1980s.
She had to travel round to give lessons to children in remote areas, sometimes spending hours crossing areas with no roads and having to move in convoy to avoid undetected Argentinian landmines.
Later she came to Scotland where she taught science in Orkney while completing postgraduate science qualifications. After that she taught in various Glasgow colleges, Dundee University and as an associate lecturer with the Open University.